Garlic Roasted Tomato Red Lentil Pasta with Arugula and Toasted Pine Nuts

This Garlic Roasted Tomato Red Lentil Pasta with Arugula and Toasted Pine Nuts is a simple and delicious weeknight dinner, packed with tons of veggies and greens! It’s tossed with an incredible garlic oil, burst roasted tomatoes, summer squash, peppery arugula, toasted pine nuts, and parmesan cheese. I love using lentil pasta for a little extra fiber and protein!

I have the best weeknight dinner for you guys! In the form of the most delicious, garlic-infused oil filled, burst roasted tomato filled, arugula filled, toasted pine nut filled, parm filled pasta! I mean, how can you go wrong with that lineup? And we’ve also got sweet, caramelized, roasted summer squash in that mix. I mean…..it’s amazing.

I’ve never met a pasta I didn’t like. Pasta probably made up 85% of my diet growing up. No joke. I’d eat it as an afternoon snack after school, for dinner, and any time of day, really. As I got older, I realized I can’t survive off of only white carbs and marinara, SO, I had to come up with other alternatives that still gave me my pasta fix!

Let’s be real – I still eat regular pasta (the good ol, white pasta because nothing beats it in my opinion), but I often make lentil or chickpea pasta, zoodles, or other vegetable noodles, because I don’t feel as weighed down after eating it, and I love getting the extra protein and fiber that those options offer.

And that beings me to this red lentil pasta! I get this variety at Trader Joe’s, and it’s actually my favorite lentil/chickpea/legume-based pasta that I’ve ever tried! To me, it’s really so similar to the real deal. I love it!

And one of my favorite ways to make pasta once the tomatoes start getting better and more in season, is to roast them in the oven with lots of garlic and olive oil. It’s pretty much the best thing ever.

The tomatoes get all sweet and burst and roasted, and the garlic gets all caramelized and sweet too.

And I pretty much just want to live in that pan. I also added some yellow squash to the mix for a little extra veg! So good.

While the pasta and veggies are still warm, I toss in the arugula so that it gets slightly wilted and kind of “melts” into all of the other ingredients. I love the peppery bite it adds and I’m always up for adding more greens to anything.

And when everything mixes with the garlic infused oil, it’s pretty much magic.

This pasta would actually be really delicious cold or room temp too. It could definitely be a cold pasta salad to bring to potlucks and BBQ’s this summer! It’s really just as delicious at room temp! And you don’t have to worry about anything spoiling!

The toasted pine nuts are SO good in this, and it kind of makes the whole thing taste pesto-y because of the fresh basil too! I love adding whole basil leaves to this pasta too because I can’t get enough of it. This pasta screeeeams summer.

And I also love it because it’s crazy easy and comes together in no time. I’ve also added grilled shrimp to it and that was incredible! It would work with pretty much any protein you wanted to add! Salmon or chicken would be delish too.

Basically all I want to eat forever.

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Garlic Roasted Tomato Red Lentil Pasta with Arugula and Toasted Pine Nuts

This Garlic Roasted Tomato Red Lentil Pasta with Arugula and Toasted Pine Nuts is a simple and delicious weeknight dinner, packed with tons of veggies and greens! It's tossed with an incredible garlic oil, burst roasted tomatoes, summer squash, peppery arugula, toasted pine nuts, and parmesan cheese. I love using lentil pasta for a little extra fiber and protein!

Course Main, Main Course, Pasta, Side Dish

Cuisine Vegan Friendly, Vegetarian

Keyword easy pasta recipe, easy vegetarian pasta, garlic roasted tomato pasta, healthy vegan pasta, pasta with pine nuts, pasta with summer squash, red lentil pasta recipe, summer pasta, weeknight pasta

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 3 -4

Author Molly | Spices in My DNA

Ingredients

For the garlic roasted tomatoes and squash

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 1 medium yellow squash, diced into 1/2'' pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

For the pasta

• 12 ounces red lentil pasta*
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 cups baby arugula
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup torn fresh basil leaves, plus extra basil leaves for serving
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400℉. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Place the tomatoes, squash, and garlic on the baking sheet and toss to coat with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring once or twice during baking, until tomatoes have burst and are golden on the edges.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Season liberally with salt. Cook pasta according to package directions. While tomatoes and squash are roasting, and water is coming to a boil, make the garlic oil.

3. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for a minute or so, or until garlic is fragrant and very lightly brown on the edges (it will burn quickly so watch carefully!). Remove from heat immediately and pour into a small bowl to stop cooking.

4. Once pasta is finished cooking, drain and place back into the pot or a large bowl. Add the roasted tomatoes and squash, arugula, toasted pine nuts, basil, grated parm, garlic oil, a couple big pinches of salt and freshly cracked pepper, and toss to combine. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired, and serve with extra parmesan and basil leaves on top. 

Recipe Notes

*I love the red lentil pasta from Trader Joe's - it's called "Trader Joe's Organic Red Lentil Sedanini", but any pasta will work here!